A recent report from Credit Suisse says that there are 128,200 ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals in the world. These are people whose net worth exceeds $50 million. According to the report, that number is up from 98,700 a year ago. The report adds:

Among individual countries, the United States leads by a huge margin with 62,800 UHNW adults, equivalent to 49% of the group total. This represents an increase of 9,500 compared to mid-2013, an astonishing rise for a single year – more than the total number of UHNW residents in China, which occupies second place with 7,600 residents (6% of the global total). The United Kingdom gained the second largest number of UHNW individuals (up 1,300 to 4,700) consolidating fourth place, behind Germany (5,500), but ahead of France (4,100). Taiwan (2,000) and Korea (1,900) each added about 550, while Brazil (1,900), Canada (2600) and Hong Kong (1,500) gained 200 apiece. The numbers for Russia (2,800) and India (1,800) were almost unchanged.

A number of my immigration colleagues see these UHNW people as potential investors who might be interested in immigration options. I agree.

While it may be thought that such individuals would be tied to the country where they made their fortunes, that may not always be the case. A glance at any newspaper will tell you that there’s a lot of strife in the world. And the old saw still holds: money is a coward.

There are several reasons why UHNW individuals would consider immigrating to North America. While UHNW individuals may not be attracted to immigration for themselves per se, they may be attracted to immigration for the sake of their family, especially their children. North America offers better education opportunities, good health care, strong economic prospects, a clean environment and access to large markets.

Ultimately, the United States and Canada offer UHNW individuals something very valuable: a passport that enables then to travel without hassles or restriction virtually worldwide.​

With chaos and uncertainty becoming an increasing reality around the world, it’s not surprising that UHNW investors may be looking for a more stable, secure and prosperous place for themselves, their families and their money, if for no other reason than as an ‘insurance policy’ just in case things get really bad where they are. No two countries offer a better guarantee of such a safe haven than the United States and Canada.

Investor Immigration Should Focus On Help For Public Projects

That is good for the investor, but what about for the U.S. and Canada? In my view, both countries need to rethink their priorities when it comes to investor immigration, because neither jurisdiction has sufficiently tied their immigrant investment programs to tangible public policy priorities. Rather, the private sector is reaping almost all of the benefits. For example, the EB-5 program in the U.S. is about benefiting private enterprises directly, with no focus on the public domain. For its part, the Quebec immigrant investor program in ​Canada is basically living off the modest interest earned on investments while they are held by the government for five years.

Modernization of the investor program in each jurisdiction offers a tremendous opportunity to match significant investment from UHNW investors to projects serving a defined public interest. One example of this strategy would be using foreign investor funds to undertake locally approved infrastructure projects, like building and maintaining roads, bridges and power plants. Currently, some investors involved in the EB-5 program are ponying up money for such facilities as ski resorts and malls. All well and good – we like ski resorts and malls. But why isn’t the government getting into the game to also help long-term, much need projects like infrastructure renewal that could benefit everyone?

Our Crumbling Infrastructure

Requiring investment into a project with a clear public value serves an obvious public interest. It helps to achieve both federal and municipal priorities. The benefit for the investor is obvious as well: expedited processing, a long-term reasonable return on the actual investment and gaining admission to a stable and prosperous country like the U.S. or Canada.